


Temple Temper

by Phoenix_Sparrow



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Gen, Tunnels of Time different POV, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 22:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9926072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Sparrow/pseuds/Phoenix_Sparrow
Summary: Could it be, perhaps, that Scott was so quick to anger because he was overworking himself (again)?





	

Scott was sat in his bedroom when Gordon came bounding in.

"Uh, what happened to knocking?" Scott asked, looking up from the Tracy Industries reports he was reading.

"You left your door open," Gordon said, wandering over and perching on his bed.  "Whatcha doin'?" he asked, looking at the technical specifications displayed on various tablet computers on the desk.  He tilted his head, frowning.  "You looking at business stuff again?"

"I can't not do it," Scott said, putting down the tablet he was holding.  "Now, let's try and speed up matters by you answering a question.  What are you doing in here?"

Gordon looked away from one of the diagrams and focused on his oldest brother.  "Oh yeah.  Sorry, your boring stuff distracted me."

"If it's boring, it wouldn't distract you," Scott answered, raising an eyebrow.  He was tired from not sleeping well and Gordon wasn't helping his mood.  "But you haven't answered my question."

"Yeah, sorry.  Parker just called."

Scott nodded.  He'd heard the call come through and had made to answer it, but someone else had beat him to it.  "So you got there first, did you?"

"Yeah.  Remember that temple we uncovered a few months ago?"

Scott tilted his head, trying to recall.  "Oh, the mine rescue?"

"That's the one.  Well, Lady Penelope has been asked by World Heritage to go check it out.  Apparently she thinks it's too dangerous to go in there alone so wants one of us to go with her."

"What about Parker?" Scott asked.

"He's not going in.  He's only driving her out there to meet Professor Harold, the archaeologist."

"Oh.  Well-"

"Can I go?" Gordon interrupted, his face eager.

Scott looked at him, rubbing the back of his neck.  He sighed slightly.  "Yeah, go on then."

"Yes!" Gordon said, jumping off the bed with a double fist pump.  "Thanks, Scott!"

Scott rolled his eyes as he watched Gordon run from the room, then leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face.  This work needed to be done, but he was so tired.  Too many things had been playing on his mind lately that his sleep was being disturbed by it.  Add into the equation nocturnal rescue calls and Scott was turning into a bit of a grouch.

 

Gordon ran into the living space where Virgil was sat at his piano.

"Hey, Virge!" he called out, charging over to him and practically running into the side of the instrument.

"Hey, take it easy, Gords," Virgil said, reaching out a hand in his direction.  "What's up with you? You look like you just got Alan to fall for the ‘handful of shaving cream' trick again."

Gordon chuckled.  "Yeah, well, he will fall asleep outside."  He shook his head, grinning.  "Good times.  Anyway, that call from Parker? Scott said I could go!"

"That's great, Gordon," Virgil said, turning his attention back to the keys.  "Let me know when you're ready and I'll take you out there."

"FAB," Gordon said.

Virgil watched him go, his fingers pausing in his melody.  He then turned his attention in the direction he knew his oldest brother was.  He'd noticed that Scott had been sleeping in later recently.  Well, when rescues allowed.  And when he did emerge from his room, he still looked exhausted and got easily wound up.

He glanced at the time, trying to determine how long he thought his brother had been working for.  Definitely a few hours at the very least, he estimated.

Getting up, he headed over to the stairs that would take him down to the kitchen.  If he was going to interrupt Scott while he was working, he'd better take a peace offering.  And seeing as there were no olive trees on the island, a mug of coffee would have to suffice.

Scott heard the knock and put the tablet down on his desk, glaring at the wall in front of him before turning round to face the door.  "What!" he called out, irritably.

The door slid open and Virgil stood there with a mug in his hands, steam drifting from its brim and the scent of coffee wafting into the room.

"I thought you might like a drink," Virgil said, softly.  "You've been in here for hours."

Scott turned back to his work.  "Thanks, Virge," he muttered.  "Can you put it over there?"

Virgil walked over to where Scott was pointing to, placing the mug down at a good distance from the scattered computers.  "How's it coming?" he asked.

"It would go a lot faster if I wasn't interrupted so often," Scott grumbled.

"I know about Gordon, and you're obviously including me, but who else?"

"Alan, Grandma, Brains…" He sighed, shaking his head.

"What did they want?" Virgil asked, curious.  He carefully sat on the edge of the desk, avoiding jostling anything.

"Alan was playing Frisbee outside and "lost" it onto my windowsill," he said, using finger quotations.  "Grandma tried to bring me some food and Brains wanted to inform me he'd finished in the silos."

"What was he doing in the silos?"

"Basic maintenance on the entry platform for Thunderbird One," Scott said.  He sighed again, his shoulders dropping.

"Scott, you look done in," Virgil said, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder.  "Why not take a break? Get some air.  Take a nap."

"I can't, I've got too much to do," he said, throwing an almost hateful glance at his desk and a longing one at his bed.

"Is there a deadline?" Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but they need it back as soon as possible," he countered.

"As soon as possible isn't right this minute.  Take a break, Scott."

"Alright," he said, covering his mouth as he spoke through the yawn that suddenly escaped him.  "But I will when I get to a suitable stopping point."

"Fair compromise," Virgil said, standing up.  "I'll leave you to it."

"Thanks, Virge," Scott said, patting his brother's hand before it was removed from his shoulder.

 

Gordon looked around the equipment bay.  He was already suited up and ready to go, but what do you take to an ancient temple?

In the end he decided for the all-terrain gear, which he grabbed, grunting at the weight of them.  "Geez, why do they have to be so heavy?" he moaned to the empty hangar.

Putting one down, he pulled on the rucksack he'd already packed with the rebreathers, amongst other things, and picked it up again, heading over to the passenger entrance for Thunderbird Two.

"Virge, you ready?" he called out over his wrist-mounted comm.

" _Whenever you are,_ " Virgil said.

"I am so ready," he said.  "See you in Thunderbird."

 

"We're two minutes out," Virgil said, glancing over at his brother.  He was surprised he'd stayed strapped in his seat the whole way there.  He was a ball of energy, unable to keep still.  He'd fiddled with the items on his uniform, tapped his feet and drummed his fingers on the console in front of him.  Until Virgil had warned him he was about to hit the controls if he didn't stop.

"Have you definitely got everything you need?" Virgil asked.

"I think so.  Can't be too prepared," he said, grinning.

Virgil shook his head, smiling.  "Right, descending now.  And you say there's a transport to take you to the site?"

"Yep.  It's all organised."

"FAB," Virgil said.  Adjusting the controls, he brought the massive Thunderbird in to land.

He watched his brother disembarking and heading towards what looked like a flat bed truck, struggling slightly with the two large cases.  He couldn't help but laugh briefly.

"And now to head back to a more peaceful base," he said to himself, lifting the great machine back into the air with practiced ease.

 

When Virgil returned home, he looked around.  There was no one in the main living area.  He frowned slightly and went off to investigate.

He could hear his Grandma in the kitchen, so quietly made his way towards their bedrooms, even tiptoeing past the doorway that led down.  No way did he want to taste anything today.

He made it to the stairs that led to their sleeping area and relaxed slightly, heading up at a normal pace.

He went into his own room first and looked outside.  He could see Kayo doing laps around the patio and Alan watching her with a comic book.

"Brains is probably in his lab," he said to himself.  Which just left Scott.  He sighed.  "I'll bet he's still working."

He wandered down the hallway towards Scott's room, slowing down as he approached.  The door hadn't been closed properly and he could see inside.  Scott was indeed still sat at his desk, but his head was down, resting on his arms.

Virgil sighed again, shaking his head.  The question now, though, did he wake him to encourage him to move to his bed, or did he just leave him and allow him to sleep?

In the end, he didn't need to worry as Scott suddenly jerked awake with a jolt and a gasp.

Virgil frowned, and pushed the door open some more.  "Hey, Scott," he said.  "I was just passing.  You okay?"

Scott looked around, his expression one of someone trying to get their bearings.  "Yeah," he said, almost mutely.  "I'm fine."  He reached out for the coffee mug that was still at the back of his desk.

"Scott, that'll be cold by now," Virgil said.  "Let me get you a fresh one."

Scott pulled a face at the drink, having taken a draught of it before he heard Virgil's warning.  "Ugh," he said, putting the mug down.

Virgil stepped forward and took it away.  "By the way, Gordon has met up with Lady Penelope," he said.  "He contacted me just before I got back to inform me.  Apparently, Parker is mad at him."

Scott looked round.  "What? Why? What's he done?"

"From what I can gather, it seems like Parker is the one that orchestrated Gordon's visit.  Lady Penelope knew nothing about it.  Parker wasn't going to be going into the temple, but didn't like the idea of Penny going in there solo."

Scott managed a small smile, then yawned again.  "Oh well," he said, stretching.  "At least he hasn't tried to pull some kind of prank on them or anything."

Virgil chuckled.  "I wouldn't count my chickens," he said.  "He's got plenty of time."

Scott shook his head a little, then looked back at his desk, his shoulders dropping again.  "Back to work," he said.

Virgil looked down at the mug he was holding then back at his brother.  "I'll just get you some more coffee," he offered.

Scott nodded distractedly, already poring over the documents again.

The younger man walked out, hesitating at the door to look back at the older one.  He shook his head slightly, then walked out.

 

"And Gordon hasn't checked in since?" Scott asked.

It was some hours since Virgil had dropped him off and John had called them to report.  When the call had come through from the space station, Virgil had been in the living room and Scott had joined him not long later, having received an alert in his room.

" _No,_ " John said, shaking his head.  " _The professor says it's electromagnetic interference, but I got a feeling he wasn't telling me the whole story._ "

"I don't like the sound of that," Scott said, resting his elbows on his knees and waving his hands wearily as he leaned closer to the projection of their space-bound brother.

" _There's more, and you're gonna like it even less,_ " John added.  " _My scan is picking up chlorine dioxide gas around the base of the pyramid._ "

Virgil glanced over at Scott as he stood up, barely letting John finish his sentence before he was moving.

"We'd better move fast," Scott said, heading over to his hidden Thunderbird entrance.  "Virgil, follow me in Thunderbird Two in case we need to blast them out."  He grabbed the light fittings, pulling them down to hip level.  "Thunderbirds are go!" he called out as the mechanised floor started to rotate.

Virgil ran to his own entrance and jumped backwards onto it.  Almost as soon as he'd stopped, it tipped up, sending him headfirst onto the chute that would take him to his own Thunderbird.

It wasn't long before the automation had them in their uniforms and they were both blasting off.

As Scott pulled Thunderbird One up alongside Thunderbird Two, he said, " _Thunderbirds are go!_ "

Virgil glanced through his window at the sleek craft next to him.  He'd already said that.  He sighed and returned his attention to his controls as Thunderbird One shot off ahead of him.  He'd have to keep an eye on him.

 

As Virgil landed Thunderbird Two at the temple site, he saw that Scott had already disembarked from his own craft and was looking around.  He had his wrist raised and was looking at a readout hovering above his arm.

Quickly shutting down the engines, Virgil made his way out of his own craft and into the sunshine.

Scott was already making his way over to a tent near the entrance to the pyramid.  He ran to try and catch him up.

 

Scott approached the tent.  He could hear the voice of, presumably, Professor Harold inside, but as of yet couldn't make out what he was saying.  His tone was sombre though, which had Scott worried.  ‘ _Not again,_ ' he thought to himself.  ‘ _Haven't we been through enough lately?_ '

As Scott pulled the curtain open, he registered what the professor inside was saying.

"…We owe it to her memory to continue the work for which she gave her life."

Scott's eyes widened in horror.  "What?!" he yelled, alarmed.

The professor turned, suddenly.  "No!" he yelped, spinning round from the mirror he'd been facing as Scott strode across the room in a few long steps.

"What happened!" he asked, frowning.  Concern was etched onto his face.  "Are they-"

"No!" Professor Harold repeated, raising his hands as he interrupted Scott.  "No, no, no!" He backed up slightly as Scott pushed a hand against his chest, pointing at him with his other hand.  "Well, probably."  He raised his hands, defensively.

"Tell me what's going on!" Scott shouted, anger in his voice.  "Now!!"

Outside, Virgil heard the tone of his brother's voice as he jogged to catch him up.  He hadn't heard that much anger in Scott in a long time and it worried him.  He picked up his pace.

"They're lost in the pyramid," the professor continued.

"Why didn't you call it in?" Scott asked, his frown deepening.

"The other one said they'd blast the pyramid wide open," the older man said, referring to an earlier conversation with John when contact with Gordon had first been lost.  "And I couldn't allow this unique discovery to be destroyed!" He pushed Scott's hand off his chest and sighed, looking away.  "I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head, then looked back at him.  "But people are just for a lifetime."  His eyes narrowed as he leaned closer to Scott, going face to face with him.  "History is forever."

Scott's face contorted with fury and before he even realised what he was doing, his hand was curled into a fist and his arm was raised above him.  "You rat-faced weasel!" he yelled, drawing his arm back.

Suddenly, Virgil was right behind him and had grabbed him with both arms around his waist, pulling him back.  "Whoa, Scott!" he cried out.  Holding him from behind, he dropped his voice.  "We'll deal with this later," he said, noting the look of mixed sorrow and anger marring his brother's features.  He hadn't heard all that Scott had.  He released him, but kept hold of his arm, stepping back.  "Right now, we need to find Gordon and the others."

Scott lowered his gaze, shaking off Virgil's grip on his arm.  He sighed and straightened up to his full height to regard the professor.  "Okay," he said, as Virgil turned to leave the tent, then raised his hand to point at him.  "But you better hope we're not too late."  With a final glare, he turned and walked out of the tent after his brother.

 

Scott caught up with Virgil and fell into step beside him.

"Sorry, Virge," Scott said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry? What the hell, Scott! You were gonna clock that guy!" Virgil said, turning to stop in front of him.

Scott stopped too and lowered his head.  "When I walked in I heard him saying that Lady Penelope was dead."

"What?" Virgil asked, caught by surprise at the remark.  "No!"

"They're lost inside that pyramid," Scott said, shaking his head.  "And he didn't report it because John mentioned that we would blast them out if we thought they were trapped.  He's more concerned about his find than he is about Gordon and Penny and Parker!" As he spoke, his tone was rising, anger creeping back into his voice.  "He even said that people only last a lifetime whereas history is forever."

Virgil placed his hands on his brother's shoulders.  "I heard that bit," he said, gently.  "And like I said, we'll deal with that later.  Right now, you've gotta take it easy.  You're gonna burn out if you keep igniting like this.  What's going on?"

Scott shook his head.  "Not now, Virgil," he said, shaking him off for a second time and striding past him in the direction of the temple entrance.

Virgil caught up with him again and fell into step beside him until they were both stood outside the entrance, looking up at it.

"Can't use a Mole pod," Virgil said.  "The whole mountain's unstable.  We start digging, we could bring the whole thing down on top of them."

"I should have been the one to take Parker's call," Scott suddenly said, cutting Virgil off slightly.  "Not Gordon!" He shook his head.

"You would have ended up in the same situation," Virgil replied, turning to face him.  "Give Gordon some credit.  He can handle this.  Now, help in the pod bay."  Virgil turned to look in the direction of his Thunderbird, his mind running over the possibilities.  "I have something we can try," he said, turning back to face Scott.

Scott looked over at the cargo vessel then back at Virgil.  "What are you thinking?" he asked.

Virgil started walking over towards Thunderbird Two and beckoned Scott to follow with a wave of his hand.  "I've been dying to try out Brains' new cable cam since he put it into the pod."

Scott tilted his head as he fell into step beside Virgil again.  "Cable cam?"

"Seriously, Scott, it's one of the schematics you were studying a few weeks ago when Brains first proposed the idea."

Virgil watched as Scott frowned in thought.  ‘ _He really is exhausted,_ ' Virgil thought to himself.  ‘ _Normally, he'd recall a schematic instantly._ '

"Oh!" Scott said, realisation dawning.  "Yeah, I remember the one.  Sorry."

"Don't apologise, Scott.  Just promise to get some sleep when you get home."

"Easier said than done," Scott said, sighing.

Virgil glanced at Scott as they walked, sympathy all over his face.  "I know, Scott," he said.  He looked back round as they entered the pod.   "Can you set up the comm. booth and patch John through while I drill a hole to send the cam inside?"

Scott nodded, setting to work.

 

Before long, Scott and Virgil were stood side by side in front of a holographic display.  A thick wire led away into the pod while a tent had been set up round the unit to help maintain a clear image.

They watched as corridor after corridor were broadcast to them and scan details were obtained from the snake-like machine.

"Looks like this is gonna be the best point to get them out," Scott said, pointing at the topmost point of the schematic being displayed in front of them.

"Right," Virgil said.  "Now we just need to find them so we can direct them out."

Scott glanced at Virgil out of the corner of his eyes.  "If they're still alive," he said, softly.

Virgil looked round at him fully.  "We don't know for sure that they're not! Until I have proof, I'm assuming the best."

Scott smiled slightly and turned back to the display.  A light had caught his attention as the machine slithered round a corner.  Up ahead of it were two lights and as it got closer, relief flooded through Scott as he recognised Gordon stood in front of Lady Penelope and Parker with his fists raised.

They directed the cam to go forward and raise up slightly so they could initiate two way communication.

They watched as Gordon flinched away from the machine before recognising who was now being projected in front of him.  " _Virgil?_ " he asked, sounding bewildered.

Scott waved.  "Hey, brother," he said.  "I see you met our cable cam."

Virgil threw a discreet glance at his brother and noticed the change in the body language, then returned his attention to the display.  "We couldn't dig without risking the whole mountain coming down on top of you."

" _Most obliged,_ " Parker said, sounding both grateful and nervous at the same time.

Virgil hit a control which would change the projection at Gordon's end from an image of the two of them, to the image they'd compiled from the scan data.  "So, I drilled a small hole to send in the cam and map the pyramid."

"We found a shaft that looks like it will get you out through the top chamber," Scott added.

"Keep heading up," Virgil instructed, directing the camera to stop projecting any image and to turn and lead the trapped party in the direction they'd indicated.  "But this time, we're coming with you."

The cable cam continued to stream so that Scott and Virgil could see their progress and they watched as Gordon led Lady Penelope and Parker around a corner and up a flight of stairs.  Suddenly, he stopped.  " _Hold up,_ " he said, his eyes looking at something above him.  " _There's another inscription here.  Can John get us a translation?_ "

Scott glanced at Virgil who quickly raised his wrist to contact him.  "Yeah, he's watching the feed," Scott said, watching the display shake slightly, presumably as Gordon picked up the cam.  He watched as it was angled to look at a doorframe above them.  "Says it means…" He looked over at Virgil again and at the small hologram of John hovering over his brother's wrist.

John shook his head, looking grim.  " _Says PONR,_ " he said, knowing they'd both know the acronym.

"Ah.  Point of no return," Scott said, looking back at the display.  He heard a chorus of worried gasps from Gordon and the others and watched as they continued their ascent of the stairs.

" _I reached that a while ago,_ " Parker said as they neared the top.

The image in the display opened out into a wide room with a centred statue resting at the top of some stairs.  In the flickering light of their wavering torches, they could make out the metallic hue of the object ahead of them.  Scott and Virgil exchanged glances and looked back again just as they heard the rumble of stone grinding against stone.  The next thing they knew, the feed from cable cam had been cut off.

 

"Gordon!" Virgil called, urgently, as he knocked on the top of the now blank console and tried a few of the controls on the front of the module.  "Do you read me!" He reached for his sash-mounted comm. channel and tried again.  "Gordon!"

Scott let out a frustrated cry as he raised his hand to his forehead, cradling it briefly.  His head was starting to hurt from being so tired.  He then growled slightly as he dropped his hand to bang on the machine in front of him.  "It's completely dead!" he said, his tone angry again, while behind him, Professor Harold approached, hearing the commotion.  "We don't have eyes in that last chamber!" Scott said.

"They're in the final chamber?" the professor asked, his interest piqued.  The Tracy men turned to face him.  "Have they found the treasure?"

Virgil glanced at Scott as his older brother took a step forward, his expression dark again.

Professor Harold raised his hands and leaned back on seeing the look on Scott's face.  "Not that it matters.  All I care about is their safety," he said, placing his hand over his heart.

"Somehow I doubt that," Scott muttered, then looked over at Virgil.  "We know they're in that last chamber and we also know it's near the surface."

Virgil looked at the diagram of the temple interior they'd created again and tilted his head.  "Wait a minute," he said, leaning in for a closer look.

"What?" Scott said.

"The last time we were out here, all we did was move one rock," Virgil explained.  "Look!" he pointed to a point on the schematic.  "That's the top of that chamber.  There's one big rock keeping it sealed."

"So, all you need to do is remove that rock!" Scott said, his face brightening at the prospect of a plan forming.  He looked around, worriedly, as the ground beneath them started to tremble, growing increasingly stronger.

"Exactly!" Virgil said, already turning on his heel to run in the direction of Thunderbird Two.

"I'll wait here and monitor!" Scott called after him.  "But, hurry! I get the feeling this mountain's stability just took a turn for the worse."

 

Virgil settled himself behind his controls and quickly started up the giant green craft.  It wasn't long before he was hovering over the designated boulder and firing a line at it.  With a blast of his jets, he was lifting it free from its place amongst the other debris.

" _Virgil!_ " Scott yelled over the comm.  His hologram appeared in front of him.  " _Gordon, Lady Penelope and Parker are hanging from a grapple line below the rock.  Do_ not _drop the rock until I give you the all clear, understood?_ "

"FAB," Virgil responded, directing the machine up and away from the now-collapsing mountain.

" _Down, down, down,_ " Scott said, slowly as Virgil guided the dangling line toward the ground.  " _Twenty feet, fifteen, ten… stop!_ "

Virgil desisted the descent of the craft and waited.

" _They're down,_ " Scott said, relief in his voice again.  " _They're on the ground and off the line.  You can get rid of the rock now._ "

"Aww, but I kinda like this rock," Virgil said, wondering if Scott was feeling up to hearing some humour yet.

" _Virgil,_ " Scott said, his voice sounded tired but not cross.  " _We live on an island made almost entirely of rock._ "

Virgil grinned, trying to judge how far he could push him now.  He let out a gasp of mock surprise.  "Scott, did you just let slip some top secret information?"

" _I'm already back in Thunderbird, so there's no one listening,"_ he said.

"Oh good," Virgil said.  "Are you okay now?"

He saw Scott's hologram heave a deep sigh.  " _I'll let you know._ "

Virgil watched as Scott took off and headed back for home, then looked round to see Lady Penelope stood with Gordon, while Parker did some kind of strange dance ahead of them.

He brought Thunderbird Two in to land behind them and waited.

 

A short while later, Gordon emerged into the cockpit of Thunderbird Two laughing.

"What's so funny?" Virgil asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"I got Parker a good one! He thought he'd lost his keys to FAB1 somewhere in that temple."

"Thought?" Virgil sighed.  "What did you do?"

"I picked his pocket before we even went into the pyramid!"

"Gordon," Virgil said, covering his face with his hand.  "Why?"

Gordon shrugged.  "He wasn't impressed that I'd come out to join them.  Said he had a five in six chance and ended up with me."

Virgil uncovered his face and looked over at him.  "Five in six?"

"I know.  Apparently even Grandma would have been preferable over me."

"So you took his keys?"

"Yeah," Gordon said, as if this answer were the most obvious.  "I mean, had I known what would happen inside, I wouldn't have done it."

"Course not," Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

"But then, with everything that went on, I guess I forgot about it.  I didn't let him get far inside the temple before I told him."

Virgil sighed.  "Well, that's something, I guess.  At least they'll be able to get home."

Gordon nodded, glancing out the window at where FAB1 was just pulling away.

Virgil watched him, an eyebrow raised, but said nothing.  He mentally filed away the expression he'd seen on Gordon's face as he watched the aristocrat depart, vowing to chat with him about it at a later date.  Right now, he needed to get home to attend to Scott.

"Looks like the professor's ride has arrived," Gordon said, the humour in his voice fading as he referred to the older man.

Virgil glanced out as well as he initiated take off procedures.  "What's happening with him?"

"Lady Penelope's seeing to it that he won't work another dig site ever again," Gordon said with grim satisfaction.

Virgil nodded.  "Good.  I didn't like that guy."

Gordon shook his head.  "No.  Priorities were all wrong."

"Yep," Virgil said, banking Thunderbird Two round to head back to base.

 

Scott was in his room, gathering up the work he'd left all over his desk, when Virgil put his head round the door.  "Can I come in, Scott?"

The older brother looked round at his younger sibling, shrugged, then turned back, putting all the tablets into a pile in the corner of his desk.

Virgil walked in, his hands behind his back, and sat on the edge of the bed.  "We need to talk," he said, watching Scott.

His movements slowed down and he made a big show of adjusting the computers so that they were all lined up exactly.

"Scott, please talk to me.  I'm worried about you.  I've never seen you react like that.  Well, not since high school, anyway."

He heard a soft chuckle followed by a sigh.

Scott turned around, his head lowered.

"I brought ice cream," Virgil said, pulling the tub and two spoons out from behind his back.

Two bright blue eyes lifted and the ghost of a smile formed on Scott's lips.  He crossed the room and shut the door, then sat down next to Virgil, gratefully taking a spoon from him.

"So, what's going on, Scott?" Virgil asked as he pulled the lid off the plastic container.

Scott took it off him, almost automatically, and put it down on the desk so it didn't leave a wet or ice-cream-y mark on his bedspread.  "I haven't been sleeping well," he admitted.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Virgil remarked.  He was deliberately taking fewer spoonfuls than Scott.

"Yeah," he muttered.  "I keep waking up either by nightmares, or my brain is telling me the alarm is going off even if it isn't, or sometimes it is…" He sighed again.  "I feel like I can't keep up at the minute.  The rescues I can handle, but…"

Virgil put a hand on Scott's shoulder.  "We've had a tough few weeks, what with that train in Japan, the situation up on Five and that meteor mine.  And I know that you feel that most of it is on your shoulders-"

"Most of it _is_ on my shoulders," Scott said.

"We're all here, Scott.  We're trying to share the responsibilities here," Virgil said.  "If you're struggling, you've gotta let us know or you'll end up in worse shape than the ice cream in this tub!"

Scott looked into it, finally noticing that it was very runny.  "How long ago did you take this out of the freezer?" he asked, looking back up at him.

"Uh, about half an hour ago?"

"Why?"

"After I took it out, I had to take the scenic route to get here to avoid Grandma," Virgil admitted.

Scott's smile quickly turned into a laugh, which Virgil couldn't help but join in with.  "You've been sneaking around her again?" Scott asked.

"She was baking again! And I didn't want her to take the ice cream away."

Scott chuckled slightly and sighed, shaking his head and keeping his gaze lowered.  "I keep dreaming that we weren't in time to help John and we watch him suffocate, or that Alan and Kayo weren't able to turn Three around and crashed into the sun."

Virgil put his hand on Scott's shoulder, gently pulling him to make the worried brother face him.  "I know.  I've heard you calling out their names in the night sometimes.  But they're fine.  Everything is fine.  You've got to try not to worry so much.  I know that's easier said than done, but seriously.  We need you, Scott.  Don't do this to yourself every time we go out."

Scott nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.  "Thanks, Virge."

"Anytime, but seriously, Scott," he said, looking him directly in the eyes.  "I was really worried when I saw you go for that guy.  Okay, so I guess he may have deserved it, but you're better than that."

Scott nodded again.  "I know, and I am sorry."

Virgil smiled at him.  He looked down into the tub again, not realising that while they'd been talking they'd actually finished all of it between them.  "Uh oh."

"We're in trouble now," Scott said.

Virgil licked his spoon clean and leaned across Scott to grab the lid which he put back onto the empty container.  "Gimme your spoon," he said, holding out his hand.  Scott mimicked his brother's action then handed it over.  Virgil put it with the other one.  "Ignore the work.  Get some sleep.  And if you get like this again, leave the work! We run the company, for crying out loud, they can wait for us for once!"

Scott smiled slightly, his eyes already drooping.  "Yes, boss," he said.

Virgil shook his head, smiling.  "Go on, get into bed and go to sleep.  I'll occupy the others.  You get some rest."

Scott nodded again as he lay back, snuggling his head into his pillow as soon as it hit it.  "FAB, Virge," he murmured tiredly.

The younger Tracy backed to the door, watching as his oldest brother dozed off, a contented smile on his face.  With a smile of his own, he left the room, closing the door behind him again.


End file.
